A smart cruise control (SCC) function is installed in a large number of vehicles currently released in the market. The SCC function is applied with a cruise driving function for driving at a speed designated by a driver and an automatic inter-vehicle distance maintaining technology of maintaining a distance from a vehicle in front and when the vehicle in front stops, automatically stopping and then automatically starting.
An SCC module is generally attached to a front panel of a vehicle, and measures a distance from and a relative speed of a vehicle in front using a radar sensor mounted at the front of the vehicle and maintains a proper speed between the vehicles. The SCC module automatically controls an engine and a brake at a speed set by the driver. However, the SCC may quickly brake when the distance between the vehicle and the vehicle in front is insufficient due to an inflexible vehicle speed control.
Although a technology for flexibly controlling a speed of a vehicle based on an inter-vehicle distance is disclosed in Korean Patent No. 10-0459350, the inter-vehicle distance and the speed are only considered and a characteristic of a driving section in which the vehicle is driving is not considered.
Meanwhile, technologies associated with various traffic safety services, such as a quick braking warning service, a forward collision warning service, and an emergency vehicle priority signal control service, through a vehicle to vehicle (hereinafter, V2V) communication based on wireless access in vehicular environments (WAVE) and a vehicle to infrastructure (hereinafter, V2I) communication, are currently being developed. However, the existing V2V/V2I related services focus on an advance warning and braking related technology for preventing the aforementioned vehicle accident (collision or collision accident).